Kitsune no Hishou The Fox of Flight
by TheGreatHibiki
Summary: In a world were Konoha isn't a village, but a ship, and ninja are fighter pilots, can a lowly mechanic rise to be captain when his parents have been labeled as traitors? His name is Uzumaki Naruto Mechanic Class-3, and your future captain, The Fox.


It was a cold morning, clear and chilled from a sharp front that had passed over them that night, much different from the temperate climate they and their machines were use to. It meant that even before the sun's rays rose over the deck the mechanics were out readying the metal birds that sat upon it on the brisk churning sea of Nami no Kuni. The _IHN-Konoha _was readying to turn herself into the wind, to begin the long slow trek that would put her planes in range of their target. _UKN-Kumo _and her fleet.

Upon the deck an engine began turning slowly at first, as it puttered and spat, removing the sitting oil from the engine and prepped the engine for startup. The prop spun slowly until a quick crack and a sputter made the blades jump while the engine churned, spattering and clacking, the whirring of the magnetos were drowned out by the sudden spluttering roar as the fuel ignited in the pistons and brought the plane to life. Smoke, dark, thick, and heavy from the night's rest spewed from both the exhaust and engine itself in complaint. The slow idle plop and pop of the cold engine accompanied the smoke as it slid across the sleek lines of the fighter's form from the prop's wash. It was beautiful, the sounds of her engine warming to a solid pitter patter of the pistons gliding and pushing the prop, begging to return to the sky, yet still dangerous as the figure carting the extinguisher would know. Waving the sign he was moving on to the fighter, and hurriedly ran to start up the next plane in the row. The quickness in his step was not from obligation of duty but merely the motivation to not deal with figure sitting in the cockpit keeping an eye on the instruments.

The child, no greater than 13, was an oddity. Honestly, Uzumaki Naruto was truly hated by most in and on the ship he called home. Despite his father being the legendary fighter ace _Konoha no Kiiroi Senko _and fourth Hokage of the vessel, with his mother the equally renown _Akai Chishio no Habanero_, when they were killed soon after he was born during the opening start of the previous war, the members of _Konoha_ seemed to turn on him. While others had markings, his whiskered cheeks always brought scorn. While other blondes were aboard, his hair always brought talk of traitors and a harsh isolated existence. Those few who did talk to the young blonde usually were like him, and considered on the low end of _Konoha's_ crew. Ignored as he was by most, he found his niche and took on the profession on the city sized ship, that of a lowly mechanic, third class. The very bottom or Dobe of the crew. In fact the only members of the crew on the ship lower than him rank wise were the expendable laboratory mice up on the science deck. Even then they probably ate better than he did. Yet it never held him back. He knew one day, he would take to the sky as the leader of the fighter squadron then finally as the Hokage or Captain of the carrier.

"Maa Maa, How goes the engine Naruto, is _Shou _ready to go?" A voice broke over the little blonde dreamer bringing him back to the low rumble of the engine and the voice of the pilot of the impressive fighter he sat in. Looking over the high collar of the man's flight suit and flak jacket his one ebon eye smiled out from a covered face. The mask was an old tradition from when pilots needed them to stay warm the man probably never decided to change since his piloting carrier which spanned longer than the boy had been alive, the fighter Kakashi's father's before him. With his headgear slanted lazily to hide his supposedly lost eye he made for an interesting show. So odd looking was this man one would never think he was the flight leader of the entire Hi no Kuni's Naval air force. Naruto knew different.

_Shou _was his prized plane, highly modular in armament, she could be equipped with any gun from any country and quickly painted to copy that counties colors. The normal red and white had been dressed in sky and sea blue for this attack, to impersonate the Kumo's but no one could mistake the tail as Kumo. Konoha made sure they knew their leader's design, the White fang over the Sharingan eye. His aptitude for matching and mimicking the enemy fighters movements was legendary giving him the name Hatake "Copy" Kakashi. Taichou of the A.N.B.U. or Advanced Navel Battle Unit, the strongest squadron of all Hi no Kuni and the _Konoha_.

"Hai Kakashi-taichou! _Shou_ is prepped and getting warmed up, give her a few more minutes and we'll arm her. Standard again?" The older man thought for a moment then smiled…

"Kumo 2 today Naruto." Naruto nodded and removed himself from the pilot's seat and jumped down the plane to the fuselage. His orange deck outfit made him stand out from the others as they moved about in their various greens. Normally one like him, a mechanic class three would remain on the lowest deck repairing issues in the city of steel they were on that couldn't be relegated to more experienced and higher ranked crewmen. But four years ago, while repairing a burnt out speaker, the old and rather wise captain of the ship came across the lad. Intrigued by his skills and methods, and unbeknownst to the child he knew the lad's father well, asked the boy to follow him up the deck.

Before he knew it he, the fox, was working along side class one mechanics and learning all there was about the planes that kept their floating fortress safe from harm and expand the control Hi no Kuni gained in the war torn oceans that surrounded the elemental countries.

Due to the peace agreements started by the ultimate flying aces almost two hundred years ago, The _Rikudo Sennin_, it was stated no battles could take place upon soil, and thus ruin the land as wars before had done. So prestige and territory was settled by air engagements using massive self sustaining carriers like _The Konoha_, _The Kumo_, _The Suna_, and _The Iwa_ just to name a few. These vessels usually backed by the majority of the battleships, cruisers, and destroyers that made up every vessels fleet. Back in the homelands, the daimyos would strut and swagger, argue and demand, then finally set challenges to one another, these would turn into orders sent to the fleets, and then watch as the battles were fought. The winner gained the land, the prestige and wealth for their people who lived in the homelands. It was high honor to be in the military, to serve their country, and almost every little boy's dream was to be the

"OI! Lazy asses, Taichou needs a Kumo-2! Step on it!" Naruto yelled out over the roar of starting planes to the stubborn weapon loaders. They grudgingly began because while they hated The Fox like most on the ship, they wouldn't dare risk death by crippling the legendary Copy and his plane by not doing the work. Non compliance was death or banishment on a military vessel like _The Konoha_. Not to mention being bossed by a class three when they were class two to them was insulting but "Copy" had demanded the blonde boy as his primary mechanic, they were stuck dealing with it. It didn't mean they couldn't belittle him.

"Fucking Fox Dobe, Think you're a big man now huh, little shit."

"The pit stain should just get off of out flight deck and back into the Dobe Dungeon where his kind belongs." Dobe Dungeon was the nickname for deck 31 the bottom deck that rested on the ships bottom hull. Were third class sailors were quartered and had their workshops on. Some of those sailors hadn't seen the sun in months, and had grown pale and listless due to the engines that worked day and night down there. It merely added more fuel to the upper decks resentment of those supposedly 'lower class' men and women.

"Yeah yeah, just get that set up done pronto. Taichou wants in the air in ten minutes. He and the ANBU are doing some rear flanks before the main assault." The men scrambled into motion as the loaders realized they were wasting time.

As the blonde rose from the armored box that fed the ammunition to the main deck he noticed _Shou's_ left aileron was out of alignment. A quick mechanic's hatch open and he was inside, using his small form to get inside of the fuselage and past the rest of the control wires that led to the many control surfaces that allowed _Shou_ to out maneuver most other planes out there. He had been given the job of making sure Shou was in perfect condition and he was NOT going to let Kakashi-taichou down. Just behind the pilot seat the adjustment for the wire's sat, so Naruto rested himself against the seat working on the aileron tension as Kakashi listened to the radar operator and flight control.

"Radar contact! Bearing Three Five One Mark Two at One hundred miles! Multiple contacts! Standard Kumo Formation." The Radio at once came alive just as he finished part of the procedure.

"All fighters prepare for take off NOW, all ships of the fleet prepare to fend off attack…. Kumo has started early." Captain Sarutobi growled out clenching his pipe between his teeth in anger.

"ANBU Leader to all ANBU, once armed get airborne, and begin counter attack procedures. Defend the carrier at ALL costs."

"AMBU lead, this is flight control, you are armed and loaded, take off." What take off? No! Naruto was freaking out, he was still inside _Shou_!

"Understood, ANBU Lead leaving home." The pitch of the engine and the tensing of the wires around him meant only one thing. Naruto grabbed the safest handholds he could find and resisted as the sudden jerking force wishing to throw him into the mass of wires and steel before him as the plane began running down the flight deck with considerable momentum. For a mechanic who had never left the ship let alone the ground, the sudden lurch as the fighter dipped a bit past the side of the ship before the wind caught her and pulled her up was a terrifying experience.

"ANBU Lead, almost lost you there, mechanical issues?"

"Negative, just seems my mechanic added a bit more fuel than normal, this was suppose to be a long range attack. I can compensate easily." No your mechanic didn't add fuel, Kakashi-taichou! Your mechanic added a mechanic!

'Oh GEEZ! I'm in trouble!'

0-0-0-0-0

Kitsune no Hishiou: The Fox of Flight  
By  
Hibiki  
Chapter Prologue: A Cold Morning's Wake Up

Naruto is Kishimotos, not mine.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Different than my usual fare. One thing about me before I was big in anime, I was big on machines. And little beats hearing a WWII era plane starting up. It's a class all of itself. I'm partial to more of the big bombers but the fighters engines are nifty too. And I just have been waiting to get the urge to write something about those kind of engines. The rest of this story sort of fell in behind it and soon became what it is and it's moments. This will like the others be updated when I find interest in them. I have no idea even how this started as I was working on AJG05 when the idea popped in my head and refused to let go.

I might like warplanes and vessels but do I truly honestly know anything about them more than their base parts and functioning? Nope. But I'll try. This Navy thing is thankfully so different than reality I can BS my way around things.

Next Chapter: A Fox in the Sky.

Dictionary:

IKN - Imperial Konoha Navy

UKN - United Kaminari Navy

Konoha no Kiiroi Senko - Konoha's Yellow Flash

Akai Chishio no Habanero - Red Hot Habanero

Rikudo Sennin - The Six paths Sage(s)

Shou: Several meanings here. One is actor as in the plane acts like friendly, and two destroy. As she is a destroyer.

Until next time: See ya.


End file.
